


Equals

by CC99trialanderrorgirl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Acceptance, Even Post TLJ Hux is still the only one who sees Kylo Ren, Fighting on the Finalizer, He takes him at face value not for who he was or who he could be, Hux accepts Kylo in a way no one else does, Hux and Kylo are weirdly Equals and it's my favorite part about their dynamic, Hux isn't afraid of Kylo, Just who he is, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, M/M, Pre-Slash, and i think that's beautiful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 17:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13618500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CC99trialanderrorgirl/pseuds/CC99trialanderrorgirl
Summary: Hux isn't afraid of Kylo Ren.Kylo is fascinated and wants to know why not.





	Equals

When it happens, they are having a fight. Kylo is waving his lightsaber around, bathing the small control room in eerie red light. It’s dark except for the lightsaber; Kylo must have shorted the power out during his destructive tantrum. Hux is _livid_. He has stepped up right into Kylo’s space, and is positively _screaming_ at him, blue eyes wild and spittle flying from his lips, entirely unconcerned with the ignited lightsaber or the powerful Force user in front of him. Kylo, for his part, is giving just as good as he gets, hollering right back, insulting Hux and his methods and his mother and anything else he can think of. Hux is rapidly losing the last vestiges of his vaunted control, and the damn breaks completely when he takes a final step toward Kylo, bumping the toes of their boots together as he jabs one finger into Kylo’s chest, still screaming. Kylo grabs Hux with his bare hands, not even thinking to use the Force, and fists his collar, getting ready to throw him into the nearest wall. It’s the look on Hux’s face that stops him: anger, disgust, and something Kylo can’t quite identify.

But not fear. 

There’s no trace of fear at all. 

Why? _Why_ is Hux consistently so unafraid of him? _Everyone_ is afraid of him. His _mother_ is afraid of him. His father was afraid of him, his uncle was afraid of him, his teachers, his peers, his parents’ friends, every single New Republic politician he’d ever met…everyone. Every single soul in the whole damn universe has been afraid of Kylo since the day he was born. _Every one_.

Except Hux.

“What are you doing?” Hux sneers, goading Kylo even at his own peril. Kylo would assume stupidity, but he knows Hux to be the most intelligent man in the room, more or less always. This isn’t idiocy or even a death wish. Hux truly is _not_ _afraid_.

Kylo releases his grip on Hux’s collar and steps back as if he’s been burned. 

“Why-“ His voice breaks and he tries again. “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” 

Hux looks confused now. Kylo expects him to recover quickly, to offer some pithy retort, but instead, Hux cocks his head and says quietly, “I’m just…not.”

“But _why?”_ Kylo presses. Suddenly, he just _has_ to know.

Hux shrugs again, smirking a little this time. “I don’t know, Kylo Ren, I guess you just don’t really scare me all that much.”

“I’m a monster,” Kylo insists. It’s _fact._ He’s known it since birth. It’s what he is: a monster. By his very nature, he is a creature to be feared.

Hux shrugs. “So am I.”

Kylo just stares. Hux meets his gaze head on and doesn’t look away until Kylo does, blinking rapidly and dropping his head. “I guess we’re…even, then.” He says.

“I guess we are,” Hux replies. For the briefest of moments, Kylo thinks he sees something like affection in Hux’s eyes, but it’s gone before he can be sure. Hux busies himself for a few moments with straightening his coat, giving Kylo an opportunity to surreptitiously swipe at his eyes.

When he senses Kylo is done, Hux looks up, and hardens his gaze once more. “Clean this mess up,” he barks, General persona firmly back in place, the characteristic steel back in his voice. He doesn’t look back, but his fingers linger on the doorframe as he leaves. Kylo smiles.

Hux isn’t afraid of him.

The odds must have been one in three hundred bazillion.

But it looks like he’s found that _one_.

 

 

 

 


End file.
